On Friday, April 13, 2012, the South Brunswick Family YMCA hosted its 12th Annual Gala Dinner & Comedy Night at Pierre’s Restaurant. Along with the honoring of retiring Board President; Anthony Campisano, Cornerstone’s very own Michael Soriano was recognized and honored for his commitment, involvement and support of the South Brunswick Family YMCA and community.

The South Brunswick Family YMCA, located Monmouth Junction, has been serving the communities of Jamesburg, Monroe, Plainsboro and South Brunswick since 1996. The South Brunswick Family YMCA is a nonprofit values based, community-centered, membership organization dedicated to enriching the spirit, mind and body through quality programming and services; including child care, after school programming, sports, aquatics, health and fitness classes, family activities, senior programming, personal training and summer camp. Over the past 12 years, they have continued to grow and expand programs and today reaching a membership that exceeds 1,550 local families, seniors, teens, youth and adults with more than 2,500 people using the facility on a regular basis. “We’re for Youth Development, Healthy Living and Social Responsibility”. More information may be found by visiting www.southbrunswickymca.org.

For the 52nd year, the New Jersey Business & Industry Association and New Jersey Business Magazine will honor companies that have built, expanded or renovated commercial and industrial buildings that improve the economy as well as the landscape of New Jersey. It’s with great pride that we report that our client SHI International Corp. has won this prestigious award this year for their newly renovated building in Somerset, NJ.

On November 10, 2011, special guests and friends attended the ribbon cutting ceremony celebrating the grand opening of SHI’s world headquarters building. New Jersey Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno delivered the keynote speech to the standing room only audience.

SHI’s headquarters relocation to Somerset, NJ, brought with it 1,000 employees, with the potential for many more as the company continues to grow. The SHI Integration Center is also located in Somerset, NJ, and includes another 100 employees. This will have a positive impact on the local business community for both services and products. Local hospitality, convention, restaurants and hotels are just a few of the local businesses that will see an increase in use as SHI settles into the community.

It is estimated that over 500 construction jobs were created during the build out of the project that lasted for one year.

SHI closed 2010 with $3 billion in revenue. In July 2011, SHI announced revenue of $1.8 billion for the first half of 2011. An increase of 33% as compared to $1.3 billion recorded in the first half of 2010. On October 25, 2011, SHI announced their third quarter revenues were up 29%. SHI recorded strong domestic and international sales growth in its Enterprise and Corporate Sales divisions, growing 25% and 103%, respectively.

SHI opened a new $20 million cloud services data center that became operational in August, 2011. SHI will be using a series of best-of-breed, high performance components in their state of the art data center.

The winning builders, developers, architects, contractors, engineers and other professionals involved in the projects will be recognized at the New Good Neighbor Awards Luncheon on June 1, at the Pines Manor in Edison. This is one of the state’s premier networking events for the design & construction communities.

The AIA New Jersey Emerging Professionals Committee received a grant from The American Institute of Architects for their idea about a new mentorship program that facilitates interaction between professionals of all career stages. Mentorship is an essential feature of the development of an Architect’s career.

The program – “Mentorship NOW” – utilizes today’s technology such as social media and promotes interpersonal communication to develop career relationships. Learning through mentorship has evolved from a narrow path to a complex range of possibilities. This organized program streamlines the current process into a more productive form of mentorship relevant to interns and students today that can also benefit seasoned professionals.

Mentoring groups will have four levels of professionals including emerging professionals, mid-level licensed, mid-level unlicensed, and seasoned professionals, who are grouped together through common interests. Fellows will be invited to participate, with the goal of one per group. Mentoring through cross-generational communication will facilitate bridging the gap between different experience levels. Groups will be assembled based on information provided in applications.

As a supplement to the small mentoring groups, the committee will plan bi-monthly educational seminars where all are invited, featuring presentations given by professionals in other fields. Mentorship NOW will add educational seminars as another member benefit. These seminars will have AIA continuing education credits, which will encourage more to participate.

Mentorship NOW anticipates launching this program in the late spring of 2012. The program is being organized by AIA NJ Emerging Professionals Committee which includes a Chairperson from each section, state IDP Coordinator, state Chairperson, Regional Associate Director, YAF Liason and Associate AIA members.

Mentorship Now is also looking for professionals who are willing to volunteer time and teach seminars. If you are interested in doing this please contact Donna Miller at Miller@CornerstoneAG.com .

As AIA National has recently made support of Emerging Professionals a strategic priority, now is the time to foster their development and welcome them into the Institute here at home in New Jersey.